True hardwood floors lend a home an air of timeless elegance, but they can be a royal pain if the wrong choices are made at the outset and the floor ends up badly scratched or warped by moisture. A four- or five-figure investment becomes a gift that keeps on taking.

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Many homeowers want more stimulating floorboards than what’s available at the home renovation store. Interesting choices are coming onto the market all the time, from reclaimed antique boards to irregularly shaped floors dreamt up by sophisticated software. But the basics still have to be done right — and be aware that builders don’t always pay attention to the fine details. The wood must be properly acclimatized and installed, and the floor and finish must be appropriate to the local climate as well as the knocks and scrapes it will be subject to.

And forget about real hardwood if you’re looking to put a floor in a condominium or basement.

“It’s technically not really possible to install real wood on concrete,” explains Joanna Gerber, a realtor and co-owner of Gerber Hardwood Flooring in Barrie. Moisture buildup would warp the floor, and quickly.

“You would need to actually build up subflooring and most condominium boards will not allow that. For many reasons — the noise, the damage to the unit — the most useful type flooring for a condominium would be engineered hardwood flooring,” she says. Engineered hardwood is a product that combines a thin, decorative surface layer of true hardwood with a particleboard base.

Whatever the floor type, installation is a job for a professional. Testimonials are key, say experts in the industry, because it will be up to the installer to play matchmaker between hardwood and homeowner.

Jason and Jessica Buckler of Woodstock have a house that was built in 1897. After their pine floors got banged up by the playfulness of their dog and two children, aged six and nine,Jessica sought a replacement online. She found Revival Flooring, a local company specializing in floors made from boards reclaimed from barns around the province. When these turned out to be beyond the Bucklers’ budget, owner Tyler Jerger guided them toward 5¼-inch ash planks — with two key features that reflected the Bucklers’ lifestyle.

First, they opted for a tough, commercial-grade finish. “It hardens [well],” Mr. Buckler says, making it ideal “because of the high-traffic nature of the house.”

As well, the Bucklers chose a hand-scraped, pre-worn look that would mask blemishes. “When you have kids and a dog, it’s good to have a floor that’s slightly distressed. That way if there are any imperfections, from sliding chairs across or something, it won’t be as noticeable. With a new floor, you notice every scratch,” Mr. Buckler says.

The work took four days altogether, and the floor was then left to cure over the weekend. The Bucklers paid just over $9,000 and are pleased with Mr. Jerger’s work.

“He’s a cool person. You can talk with him. He’s really excited about what he does and he answered every question we had,” Mr. Buckler says.

Mr. Darmaga says homeowners should be honest about their lifestyle when figuring out their floors. “They should be able to tell us what their living conditions are like. We ask them, ‘Have you got children?’ A young couple with lots of kids and animals — pets can damage your floors,” he says. So go with the grain of the recommendation — for oak over sensitive maple, for example. “I tell them, ‘This is full disclosure. I don’t want surprises and neither do you.’ ”

Homeowners may not want surprises, but innovation is another story. Take, for instance, a European company now shipping its products to Canada. It uses computer software to create hardwood floors with alluringly organic and sinuous contours.

Bolefloor is based in the Netherlands and Estonia; sales director Raoul Langvee is originally from Montreal. “This is a product that Canadians will like and feel close to,” he says over the phone from Tallinn. “It gives off an aura of well-being and nature.”

The method involves sawing boards along the natural curves created as the tree grows. A computer program matches the boards so that they’ll fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. “It’s truly an innovation in flooring,” Mr. Langvee says.

Bolefloor is currently searching for a Toronto showroom. In the meantime, architects and other customers can shop at the website and order the boards from Europe.

While Bolefloors start at a high-midrange price of $12 per square foot, the products tend to be destined for higher-end properties such as luxury hotels and log-cabin-style cottages. One recent Bolefloor order is destined for the remote northwestern Ontario community of Red Lake. “[That] would probably be somebody’s dream retirement cottage,” Mr. Langvee speculates.

Because it’s tricky to install and finish a floor properly, Mr. Langvee insists on shipping Bolefloors unfinished. It’s up to the local installer to complete the job.